'These are arbitrary decisions:' Oxnard woman, her mother swept up by ICE

Araceli Bravo-Solano sat in a parked car outside a Camarillo field office when a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent knocked on her window.

She had been waiting for her mother who was at a routine immigration appointment inside.

The agent asked Bravo-Solano to come inside and started asking questions. She answered all of them, she said. Where do you live? Oxnard. What is your occupation? Farmworker. How many children do you have? Five.

Bravo-Solano, 33, has lived in the U.S. for nearly two decades after immigrating from Guerrero, Mexico, to escape the violence there, she said. She has been undocumented since crossing the border.

On May 14, the officer told her she would be detained. Her mother could go home and take care of her children, she said he told her.

The number of people, like Bravo-Solano, detained by immigration authorities in Ventura County is unclear but has spiked in recent weeks. The local nonprofit 805 UnDocuFund estimated at least 59 had been detained in June.

ICE has not provided local data and did not respond to questions for this report.

Bravo-Solano spent a month in an Arizona detention center before a judge ordered her release, she told The Star, speaking in Spanish. Less than one week after getting home, her mother, Rosa Solano, was deported just as suddenly. 

"We don’t know anything about her right now,” Bravo-Solano said. "I don’t know what’s going on. She hasn’t called me. She hasn’t been able to communicate."

It's a familiar story playing out across the state and country.

"It feels very much like the government is kind of clamoring to get as many people as possible," said Jean Reisz, co-director of the University of Southern California's immigration clinic.

In that maelstrom, some say mistakes are being made and due process ignored. People are being wrongfully arrested and detained, said Reisz, also a clinical associate law professor. Some who qualify for a bond hearing may never get one.

"We haven't seen these tactics in a very long time," Reisz said.

Vanessa Frank, a longtime local immigration attorney, described the enforcement actions as arbitrary. Residents with green cards, other removal protections or U.S. citizenship become collateral damage in the sweeps, she said.

There's pressure to just detain and sort it out later, Frank said. In the meantime, people may lose jobs, housing, businesses or even custody of their kids, she said. 

Daughter returns home, mother deported

At the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, Bravo-Solano said officers scolded detainees when they asked for water that didn’t come from a sink or when they complained about the lack of air conditioning. 

She warned her mom in a phone call that if she were ever detained she should do whatever the officers tell her. Her mother replied that she would rather be deported than detained. 

“My mom said, 'No, I don’t want to be there,’” Bravo-Solano said. “I told her I will fight to let her be in the U.S., and she said she was very scared.” 

Solano, 53, crossed the border one year ago after a group killed her brother and tried to kill her, her daughter said. She was allowed to enter the country while her asylum application was pending.

During a June 20 immigration appointment in Los Angeles County, Solano called her daughter to say that her interview went well and that her asylum application would likely be approved.

Eight hours later, she called again. Solano told her daughter that she was going to be transported to a Los Angeles detention center and then deported to Mexico. 

Since then, Bravo-Solano has not heard from her mother.

When can ICE arrest, detain someone?

Immigration attorney Vanessa Frank talks about the rise in enforcement activity on June 30, in a Moorpark workshop.

Generally, someone in the country unlawfully may be arrested and detained. Some may have entered the U.S. unlawfully. Others may have had permission, which then either expired or is still in process.

But those without a criminal history typically have the right to a bond hearing.

That's when an immigration judge determines whether or not they are a danger to the community or a flight risk. They then can pay a bond and are released as their case continues.

They must show up at court, not break the law, check in with ICE and comply with other conditions. Many can apply for authorization to work.

Proceedings can take years because of the backlog in immigration cases – one Frank and others say could be eased if lawmakers agreed on reforms.

"We want people to follow the process," Frank said. "This is the process."

Unless there's a change in their circumstances, like breaking the rules or losing their case, individuals typically would not face arrest or detention while out on bond.

Now, that's not necessarily the case.

How has immigration enforcement changed?

More check-ins are required, attorneys reported. Some under supervision must wear ankle monitors. Others have been picked up and detained.

Even if individuals have a viable path to gain legal status, the government is revoking their supervision and detaining them, said Gabriella Navarro-Busch, a Ventura immigration attorney.

"These are arbitrary decisions," she said. "Every case is a little bit different. But in general, that's what is happening."

Under the current administration, she will go with her clients to their appointments in most cases.

"They have to show up," Frank said of the check-ins or court dates. "Because if you don't show up, you lose."

But if ICE detains them, that carries its own risks, she said. They may have families and children who are U.S. citizens. They run businesses or are essential employees. They have people who depend on them, she said.

Jose Alamillo, professor and chair of CSU Channel Islands’ Chicana/o Studies department, immigrated with his family from Zacatecas, Mexico as a child and has dedicated his career to researching the history of immigration raids in Ventura County.

“What’s going on now is nothing new,” he said. “This is another example of essentially when you have this very strong anti-immigrant administration that’s trying to crack down on undocumented immigration and trying to increase enforcement.”

Will detainees see an immigration judge?

Alamillo called the need for major immigration reform that establishes a path to legal citizenship dire and overdue. Entering the country legally now involves significant delays and expenses and also knowledge of the system that most don’t have.

In the case of expedited removal, individuals could be arrested and deported quickly without seeing a judge, Reisz said, and its use has expanded in recent months.

In past administrations, people typically were subject to expedited removal when they were detained near the border, she said. But that has changed. Now, individuals may be subject to expedited removal when they have been in the country less than two years, she said.

While some could try to challenge it in court, many may be deported because they don't have an attorney or don't know the rules, Reisz said. 

Asylum seekers face deportation

Oxnard resident Araceli Bravo-Solano, who immigrated from Mexico nearly two decades ago, was required to wear an ankle monitor after being released from an Arizona detention facility in June 2025.

The USC immigration clinic recently represented day laborers arrested at a Home Depot in Pomona; all were subject to expedited removal, Reisz said.

Her office filed a petition, contesting the arrests, and the judge ordered the immigration agents to testify. But instead, the government dropped the expedited removal, shifting the cases to a full immigration hearing.

Some asylum seekers also have faced expedited removal recently, Reisz said. That happens after the government seeks to stop immigration proceedings for those in the country for fewer than two years, she said.

In Oxnard, Bravo-Solano continues to search for her mom.

She also waits for word about her own immigration status. With the help of La Hermandad Hank Lacayo Family Centers, Bravo-Solano learned that she could be eligible to stay through something called cancellation of removal, based on living in the U.S. for at least 10 years with no criminal record.

She is also applying for a U visa because she had been the victim of a crime. The Oxnard nonprofit is helping her apply for the visa.

Alicia Flores, executive director of La Hermandad, said Bravo-Solano is not alone. Flores described the majority of the agency's clients as hard working people who came to the United States for a better life and have lived here for a decade or longer.

It is important to recognize them as humans rather than stereotypes, she said.

“We’ve never seen the community so afraid," she said.

Reporter Tom Kisken contributed to this report.

Cheri Carlson covers the environment and county government for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at [email protected] or 805-437-0260.

Makena Huey is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at [email protected]. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: 'These are arbitrary decisions:' Oxnard woman, her mother swept up by ICE